A mouse for a MOUSE!!

Being in my craft room today was a much needed and extremely welcomed escape from the hectic and crazy thing called LIFE!! Sadly, between a husband, two teenagers, two dogs, five cats, one bearded dragon, a river turtle, a beta, our {HUGE} sprinkler system installation, and a partridge in a pear tree dealing with preliminary swimming pool plans; card making hasn't been in my schedule lately!! I am hopeful, yet doubtful, that consistent crafting will once again be in my near future. A girl can dream - can't she?!? Anyway ... 
In order for my card (and the title of this post) to make sense you need to know that my sixteen year old nephew's nickname is "mouse". Of course with a nickname like that you know there is a story; however, I won't bore you with the details. Instead, I present to you my "a mouse for a MOUSE" card!!!

(click photo to enlarge)

As you can tell by looking at my card, it was a pretty straight forward and easy design.  I used MOJO350 for the layout and chose Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, and Real Read as my colors. Due to its simplicity, I won't go into any details so if you have questions please leave a comment.

That's all for now!!

Hugs, Smiles, and Happy Stamping!

~Hallie

\ˈkraft ˈrüm \

craft  noun  \ˈkraft\
: an activity that involves making something in a skillful way by using your hands

room  -noun-  \ˈrüm, ˈru̇m\

: a part of the inside of a building that is divided from other areas by walls and a door and that has its own floor and ceiling

craft room  -noun-  \ˈkraft ˈrüm \

: a part of the inside of a building that is divided from other areas by walls and a door and that has its own floor and ceiling that is used for an activity that involves making something in a skillful way by using your hands

... or in my case

 craft room  -noun-  \ˈkraft ˈrüm \ 
: a room in my house that I have not entered in two weeks; therefore, there has been no activity involving making something in a skillful way by using my hands

The good news ...
I am in my craft room today creating with this oldie but goodie ...

(click photo to enlarge)

... so make sure and check back later to see what I have skillfully made using my hands. *wink*

Hugs, Smiles, and Happy *skillfully making using your hands* 

~Hallie

June Design Team Work - Projects #3 & #4 Combo

Are you ready to see my final CCREW Design Team project for this month?!? {shake your head, yes} Great!! Let's get to it. 

Theme: Out with the Old, In with the New! What’s speaking to you from the new catalog or what will you miss that's retiring? Let’s go WILD! Anything that catches your eye with any new or existing products, it’s your time to get wild and share the muse!

DSP/Color Focus: Show us your favorite color. Try it in a color combo you haven't used before!

Hands down, one of my favorite SU! colors is DAFFODIL DELIGHT because it is such a bright, cheery, and happy yellow ... and then you add in some (now retired - UGH!!) Polka Dot Parade DSP (because we all know I'm a sucker for polka dots) and viola! I'm in crafting heaven. I used the MOJO347 Sketch for my layout and chose the color combination using my SU! Color Coach. I was a bit concerned when the color coach indicated Daffodil Delight should be paired with Pacific Point and Elegant Eggplant {yikes!} but I gave it a whirl anyway and I'm quite pleased with the result. I added in some Basic Gray to help tone down the other colors and of course I used my SU! Square Lattice and Decorative Dots Embossing Folders to add some texture to my card and that's how I got to the next challenge. 

Catalog Focus: Use your favorite product in your favorite way! Make us fall in love with it too!

If you have been following my blog for very long you know that I am an embossing folder feen. My embossing folders are my go-to tool on nearly everything I create. As a matter of fact, I'm not really sure how I functioned prior to their existence, but I did, and I'm super happy we have them now. I used the *NEW* Work of Art stamp set and oh.my.gosh, I'm pretty sure I'm in love!! Oh the possibilities!!!  Okay, so before I get lost in a day dream about my next card using that stamp set, I will show you the one I have ready to go. Ready?!? Viola!!!

 

(click photo to enlarge)

 

That wraps up this month's design team work so I'm off to print the challenges for July and *hopefully* have them completed sooner rather than later. {wishful thinking, I'm sure!} In the meantime, if you're stuck in a stamping lull and looking for some inspiration and/or a challenge, I highly recommend you boogie on over to the MOJO Monday and the Pals Paper Arts blogs. Great Stuff!!!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!

~Hallie

June Design Team Work - Projects #1 & #2

You know it's been too long since your last post when your blog doesn't recognize you and requires you to sign in!! *sigh*

I am quickly coming to the conclusion that I am not an every.single.day blogger kind of girl right now. It's not that I don't want to blog every.single.day, it's simply that life continues to throw many unforeseen circumstances at me, and although it is frustrating at times, I strive to find the blessings amongst the chaos because the book of James tell us ...

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  James 1:2-4

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

...so between life's daily struggles and challenges, chauffeuring teenagers, my family visiting regularly, a new and completely unexpected (and fairly large) church commitment, my design team deadlines, organizing our family reunion that is two short weeks away, dog sitting, and most unexpectedly the death of a very dear loved one, onward I persevere towards my crown of life. 

Having  said all of that, I actually have a couple of design team projects to show you this week. I cheated was resourceful this month and used our family reunion invitation that I posted in my last blog post as my solution to the Holiday Focus challenge. The challenge was to celebrate your favorite holiday with a new technique and, although a Gatefold card isn't a "technique", I took the liberty to use it for the challenge since I added the inside pockets to hold the "cards" with the resort and RSVP information.

Theme: Out with the Old, In with the New! What’s speaking to you from the new catalog or what will you miss that's retiring? Let’s go WILD! Anything that catches your eye with any new or existing products, it’s your time to get wild and share the muse!

Holiday Focus: Celebrate your favorite holiday with a new technique!

(click photo to enlarge)

(click photo to enlarge)

The next challenge, the Scrapbook and More challenge, was fun to work on and I'm thrilled with the way my project(s) turned out.

Scrapbook and More Focus: Celebrate your best friend on a scrapbook page or by making a gift for them.

For this challenge I chose to make a gift for my invisible friend so I wouldn't have to give it away. Naturally I was at a loss of what to make so I turned to my trusty little 3" binder that is chocked full of Becky Roberts' perfectly written tutorials. When I came across the set of three gift boxes in her 12 Days of Christmas - 2008 Edition, I went to work and created the awesome little ensemble below ... and since it's for one of my imaginary friends, I'll go ahead and tell you that it is proudly displayed on my desk so everyone who enters my craft room aka: my cats and dogs can see it.

(click photo to enlarge)

That wraps up two of the June challenges so I will be back tomorrow with the card I made that covers the last two challenges for this month.

NOTABLE INFORMATION:

The 2014-2015 Annual Catalog will be live at 12:00pm MST.

Click HERE to join my team and become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for only $50.00 AND attend our SU! Annual Convention (a $295 value) for FREE!!

Until tomorrow ...

 Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Crafting!!!

~Hallie